Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “open the gates of hell” in Gaza if Hamas does not return all hostages, pointing to a joint US-Israeli strategy to take on the Palestinian fighters, AFP reports.

“We have a common strategy, and we can’t always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one,” Netanyahu said in a joint statement with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We will eliminate Hamas’s military capability and its political rule in Gaza,” the statement added.

“We will bring all our hostages home, and we will ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.

“The unequivocal support of the United States on Gaza will help us achieve these objectives faster and set us on a path for a different future,” Netanyahu said.

 A Palestinian man walks with crutches amidst the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb 16, 2025. — Reuters/Hatem Khaled
A Palestinian man walks with crutches amidst the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb 16, 2025. — Reuters/Hatem Khaled

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